SUDAN’S military and rival paramilitary group the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have announced that their leaders will not negotiate with each other to end the ongoing crisis in the country.
The military has instead demanded the surrender of the RSF.
‘The Sudanese people do not deserve to suffer during Eid, and the RSF’s personal greed is the reason for the current situation. The military is committed to defending the country and restoring hope for its citizens,’ Sudan’s army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan tells Al Jazeera.
RSF leader General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo confirmed to media organisations that they have failed to reach a ceasefire.
Explosions and gunfire resounded in Sudan’s capital Thursday as fighting between the forces of two rival generals showed no signs of abating ahead of festivities marking the end of Ramadan.
Nearly 300 people have been killed since the fighting erupted Saturday between forces loyal to Sudan’s army chief Al Burhan and his deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, who commands the RSF.
Some of the fiercest battles have taken place in the capital Khartoum, a city home to five million people, most of whom have been cloistered in their homes without electricity, food and water.
‘We were awoken today at around 4:30 am to the roaring sound of fighter jets and air strikes,’ said Nazek Abdalla, a 38-year-old in southern Khartoum.
‘We locked our doors and windows hoping no stray bullets would hit our building.’
The violence entered a sixth day after another truce unravelled on Wednesday, with the crackle of gunfire heard and columns of thick black smoke seen rising from buildings around Khartoum International Airport and the army headquarters in the capital.
The RSF had said its forces would ‘fully commit to a complete ceasefire’ from 1600 GMT on Wednesday for 24 hours, as did the army.
But witnesses said gunfire did not cease in Khartoum from the appointed time and into the night, as another ceasefire was breached within minutes of its supposed start for the second time in as many days.
As fighting continues, many terrified Sudanese fled Khartoum, hauling whatever belongings they could carry and trying to get out of the capital, where forces loyal to the country’s top two generals have been battling each other with tanks, artillery and airstrikes since Saturday.
Meanwhile, the Sudanese army said 177 Egyptian Air Force troops were airlifted back to Egypt, a few days after being held in the northern town of Merowe by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces [RSF].
The Sudanese army in a statement said the Egyptians had been evacuated from Dongola, north of the country.
Another heavy exchange of gunfire was also reported earlier in the Jabra neighbourhood of west Khartoum, where homes belonging to Dagalo, widely known as Hemetti, and his family are located, a Reuters reporter said.
Blasts also rang out from the main airport, shut down after the conflict burst out of a power struggle between Burhan and Hemetti over a plan to integrate Hemetti’s RSF into the
regular military.
Huddled in their homes, residents struggled with power cuts and worried how long food supplies would last.
‘Today we were starting to run out of some essentials,’ said architect Hadeel Mohamed, concerned for the safety of her brother who had gone to look for food.
‘Past catastrophic’
Nine hospitals have been hit by artillery and 16 had to be evacuated, the Sudanese Doctors’ Union said, with none operating fully inside the capital.
‘The hospitals are completely collapsed, devoid of all necessities. It’s past catastrophic …,’ said Sudan’s Red Crescent spokesperson Osama Othman.
Burhan heads a ruling council installed after the 2021 military coup and the 2019 ouster of veteran leader Omar al Bash
ir, while Hemetti, who analysts say may command more than 100,000 fighters, was his deputy on the council.
Their conflict has dashed hopes for progress towards democracy in Sudan, risks drawing in its neighbours and could play into regional competition between Russia and the United States.
Sudan sits strategically between Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia and Africa’s volatile Sahel region.
Chad’s armed forces disarmed 320 Sudanese soldiers who had entered its territory on Monday, its defence minister said, adding that Chad did not want to be involved in the conflict.
The army controls access to Khartoum and appeared to be trying to cut off supply routes to RSF fighters. Army reinforcements were brought in from near the eastern border with Ethiopia, according to witnesses and residents.
In a related development, warlord Khalifa Haftar’s so-called Libyan National Army (LNA) denied on Thursday that it is providing support to one party in Sudan against the other.
‘The General Command categorically denies reports of providing support to one party against the other,’ LNA spokesman Ahmad Mesmari said in a statement.
